Tribute

James Orbison: Led School of Medicine and Dentistry

AT THE HELM: In addition to serving as dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry and director of the Medical Center, Orbison held leadership positions in several national organizations.

As dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry and director of the Medical Center, James Lowell Orbison helped oversee significant changes in clinical care, research, and medical education at the University. Appointed as dean and director in 1967, by the time he retired in 1979, construction of an education wing had been completed, and research facilities and programs for independent study had been expanded.

During Orbison’s tenure, the Medical Center developed its initial cancer center, expanded the psychiatric wing, and completed construction of a new Strong Memorial Hospital, says Bradford Berk ’81M (MD/PhD), chief executive officer of the Medical Center.

“Dr. Orbison served the School of Medicine and Rochester well in a challenging time,” Berk says. “He played a major role in long-range capital planning and led the expansion of the medical school and the hospital while maintaining the quality and the standards the students and the community deserve.”

“From his days as a faculty member, chair of pathology, and as dean, Dr. Orbison is remembered as an inspiring mentor by his students for his scientific insight, his support, and his high ideals,” says David Guzick, dean of the School of Medicine and Dentistry. “He presided over the school at a time of rapid scientific progress as well as growth.”

A native of Bronson, Kan., Orbison graduated from Ottawa University in Kansas, earned a master’s degree in chemistry at Michigan State University, and, in 1944, received his medical degree from Northwestern University. He served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1945 to 1947 and came to Rochester in 1955.

In his research, Orbison focused on blood pressure, vascular disease, and the composition of connective tissue. He served as president of the International Academy of Pathology and also secretary-treasurer and then president of the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists.

Orbison died June 10 in Northumberland, Pa. He was 93. His survivors include his wife, Olga; a daughter, Margaret Graham, and her husband, Joseph Graham, of Dansville, N.Y.; a son, James Orbison, and his wife Nancy Orbison, of Lewisburg, Pa.; and three grandsons.

—Michael Wentzel